So you've downloaded that cool new app everyone's talking about, but it isn't all it's cracked up to be. Here's how to remove it from your computer.

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Removing a program from your programs menu won't actually get rid of it. When you install a program, it leaves files all around your system. To get rid of them fully, you have to go through an uninstallation process.

On Windows

On Windows, sometimes you can find an uninstaller next to the program in the Start Menu. However, if you can't, all you need to do is:

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Head to Start Menu > Control Panel.

Click on "Uninstall a Program" under the "Programs" section.

From there, find the program you want to uninstall and click on it. You should see an "Uninstall" button show up at the top of the pane. Click on that, and it'll open up that program's uninstaller. Hit next, and when it finishes, the program will be completely removed from your system.

On a Mac

On a Mac, you can just drag a file to the trash and it will delete that program from your machine. It will leave the preference files behind, though, which can be a good thing. If you ever decide to install that program again, it'll keep all your settings from when you first installed it so you don't have to set it up again. If you want to remove all the system files as well, though, apps like AppCleaner will do it for you:

After downloading AppCleaner, start it up and hit the Applications tab. You should see a list of all your installed applications.

Check the applications you want to remove and hit the Search button. It should come up with a list containing those applications and related system files.

Hit the delete button to remove all those files from your system. When you're done, just close AppCleaner and empty the trash.

That's it! You should now be free of those programs, freeing up a bit of hard drive space and a bit of clutter from your programs menu.

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